This invention relates to the field of holders for telephones in which the holder can be secured to another item such as a desk top, side wall of a cabinet, side or top wall of a computer monitor and the like.
Prior art devices in this general field known to the inventor include those described and shown in the following United States patents.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,797,916 discloses an adjustable cradle mounting bracket for installing in a vehicle to secure the handset cradle of a mobile telephone so as to orient it in any of a number of different positions.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,406,928 discloses a holder for a compact telephone subset comprising a tray, a clip assembly secured to the tray to hold the telephone subset therein, the clip assembly having a first pair of inwardly extending flexible arms which project outwardly from the open wall of the tray to grasp an intermediate portion of the subset and a second pair of arms which project outwardly in the same direction as the first pair located at one end of the tray to support an end wall of the telephone subset when received in the tray.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,067,532 discloses a two part removable fastening attachment for temporarily hanging a telephone receiver or other item, comprising a first part having a socket which has an adhesive backing to secure to a planar surface such as the side wall of a telephone, and a second part having a ball to be received in the socket of the first part which has an oppositely facing adhesive plate to which an item such as a telephone handset can be adhered. The handset with the second part of the two part fastening device thereon can then be temporarily hung on the side of the telephone by seating the ball in the socket of the first part adhered to the side wall of the telephone.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,946,977 discloses a retractable bracket slidably mounted in a recess in the bottom surface of a telephone unit base, the bracket having a keyhole aperture at its outer end to receive a wall hook or the like when the bracket is moved to its extended position, the bracket being slidably movable to a retracted position when the keyhole aperture is not being used whereby the keyhole aperture and outer end of the bracket do not project outwardly from the end of the telephone unit.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,410,513 discloses a data recording device attached to the side wall of a telephone by an adhesive strip secured to the back wall of the support member of the data recording device. The data recording device comprises hinged panels, one of which includes a grooved channel to receive an index card or the like, another to receive a writing pad, also a holder for a pen and pencil.
U.S. Pat. No. 354,469 discloses an adjustable telephone support comprising a vertical support column, brackets slidably mounted thereon having set screws to hold at the desired location, the back plate of the telephone secured to the slidable brackets whereby the telephone can be raised or lowered to a desired level and held at such location by tightening the set screws of the brackets.
The telephone holder in accordance with the present invention provides improved versatility and convenience by making it possible to locate the telephone at any one of a number of locations which may be most convenient for the user. The holder includes both vertical and horizontal mounting plates which make it possible to secure the holder to either a horizontally extending surface such as a desk top, or a vertically extending surface such as the side wall of a cabinet. The mounting plates are provided with adhesive strips covered with a release sheet of paper or plastic material which can be peeled off when such mounting plate is to be secured to the corresponding surface of a selected item.
One convenient item to which the holder in accordance with this invention can be secured is a computer monitor. The holder can be secured to either the side wall of the monitor or to its top wall.
The holder includes a base plate having a pair of elongated vertically extending slots, through which a corresponding pair of mounting screws extend. The heads of the mounting screws are received in corresponding apertures and slots in the bottom wall of the base of a telephone. Butterfly nuts on the other ends of the screws are tightened by hand to draw the telephone securely against the base plate.
The mounting plates extend from the bottom edge and side edge of the base plate at substantially right angles and are integrally joined to the base plate. Such construction provides reinforced rigidity and stability to the base plate both vertically and horizontally, while at the same time performing the function of mounting plates to secure the holder to another item.